Heegle The Nameful
by Edith Brereton
Summary: After Jareth loses Sarah, he angsts to Hoggle. Sort of fluff, I guess. For Shuna.


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If this is more than slightly disturbing... what else did you expect? Enjoy if you can, and, erm, review it regardless. This is my Christmas present to Shuna.

DISCLAIMER: Obviously, Labyrinth would be twisted if I owned it. Yeah... I don't.

WARNINGS: Fluff; JarethHoggle Love. I don't yet know if this will be a spoof or not, but either way, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

-Love and merry Christmas. Mira

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Jareth sighed buried his face in his hands, unable to restrain his emotions or find happiness in anything in his fantasy world. He had built the world for himself, as a refuge, but he had become a prisoner to his own creation. He could find no one to love him, fear him, share his world with him. He swore that he would someday give his true love the world - anything that he could obtain with his powers - but it seemed that he would live alone until his world fell to pieces and he was destroyed by its fragments.

He felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders, hesitant, trembling with what must have been fear. As cruel as he was to the goblins, he would not trade them for the world; his actions were only the product of pride and a prolonged life of solitude. He hardly caught the words that were being spoken to him with such apprehension.

"...just another girl, your majesty. She don't understand what she was doin' or what you wanted. They never do. There's other girls, and there's all of us here that are waitin' for you to be in a better mood. She was pretty and all, but she was still a child - they don't love that young."

He raised his eyebrows at the absurd statement. "You truly do not comprehend, do you, Heegle? It is not about the girl; it is about the life that I am to live forever, the life that you will never see until you have lived it. You assisted her at my expense... I should like to make you pay for what you have done. I haven't the will to do so; I haven't the strength to press on."

Hoggle shifted away from the Goblin King; Jareth turned to face him, feeling nearly murderous. "You _will _look at me, Hedwig."

"Hoggle," the goblin corrected instinctively. He gasped when he realized what he had done.

"I do not _care _what your name is. Do not run from me! I am weary of seeing fear! _Do not act like a coward in my presence!"_  
"Don't act like a lunatic an' I won't be afraid of you, Jareth!" Hoggle shot. He nearly ran, anxious to know what the king would think of his outburst. The king only smiled.

"We've made progress. Excellent. Tell me what you intend to do now that we've stumbled upon this _wealth _of honesty." Jareth rested his chin on his palm and watched the goblin, genuinely curious and somewhat amused.

Hoggle sighed. "I'm gonna tell you to give this up. Humans ain't worth your time. Why can't you stop mopin' and figure that out for yourself? You're a _king; _you shouldn't have to wait for a stupid goblin to tell you what you need to do. What do you want, Jareth? Move on and find it. The girl ain't worth your trouble."

Jareth raised his eyebrows. "You dare to tell me what to think, what to forget? I see no reason why your advice should be heeded. I see no reason to surrender what I worked so hard to have. I need someone to fear me, but to move beyond that fear and love me for what I am, cruel though I may be."

Hoggle felt uncomfortable with the king's sudden confessions, but knew better than to state their absurdity. "There really is a man in there, ain't there?"

"Excuse me?"

"I thought that there was only the king, the one I could never trust not to throw me off a cliff, but I was wrong. There's a man, and he's sufferin'."

Jareth scowled to hide the beginning of a smile. "Shut _up, _Heedle. Or was it Hogle? I can never seem to remember..."

Hoggle smiled before he left to resume his duties. "Close enough."

The king made no attempt to guess again, but let himself smile for a moment. "I do love your tolerance, _Hoggle."_The goblin spun around. "You... know my name?"

Jareth shrugged, and a mischievious smile lit his face. "I always have."


End file.
